Tyrrus
Tyrrus is a relatively small country in the centre of the world. It is enclosed on three sides by mountains, and to the south by an ocean. It is the starting area for players and possibly the most "normal" country. History Origins Legends state that long ago humanity was surrounded by danger on all sides, they were at a constant war with each other and the future was hopeless. That was, until the Dragonqueen Zythia, Lady of mana and Dragon Patron of Pure Magic, led a group of the greatest people to a land of fertile plains and expansive forests. The myths state that she enlisted the help of Cthuth, Dragonlord of the Earth, to raise mountains around this land and keep humanity safe. This was done on the year 0. Tyrranean calendar does not go any further back as no dates are known from beyond that time, thus anything that happened before happened in "pre zero". Whatever the case may be, the Tyrraneans have mostly stayed sheltered and secluded within this valley and only a few individuals have dared to travel the world beyond. The Kingdom of Blackspire As far as the records go the first civilisation to rise up within Tyrrus was the Kingdom of Blackspire, in the year 565. This kingdom is shrouded in legend and much of what is said may not be true and may simply be the elaborations of storytellers. What is known is that a shaman calling himself Nekrus the Runic King united several tribes, claiming that his aim was to reach beyond the barrier between the living and the dead. Nekrus was a powerful mage, weilding not only the powers of the Dark Gods but also the magic of Velkyn, the Dark Dragon. Such a formidable opponent was he that none dared oppose him and he quickly swept over and took control of the areas now known as The Hinterlands, The Northlands, and much of Silvershire, before coming into conflict with the Dark Monks of the Black Monastery, who had long been established in Tyrrus. Travelling into the vale of mount Tyran he eventually came across the Kingdom of Everwood and fought them too. Eventually Nekrus reached this goal and shattered the barrier between, creating the area in the very north of Tyrrus known as the Palewood. After Nekrus's death in 650 most of his kingdom shattered and fell to ruins. Zaikerik and The First Dragon War The powerful mage Zaikerik, a student of Nekrus, founded the city of Mortholme by the shattered ruins of the Blackspire in 652, with the intention of using the power of the rift between the worlds to his advantage, even bringing spirits through. However, the Citadel, the Dark Monks, and the Kingdom of Everwood, objected to this and a great conflict began. At the same time the Dark Dragonlord Velkyn and the Light Dragonqueen Livia were in conflict over the consequences of the rift opened between worlds and Velkyn saw it as a source of great power whereas Livia thought they needed to try and close it. The forces of light and darkness fought a bloody battle, made even bloodier by the intervention of dragons, but eventually after Zaikerik was killed in 671 he betrayed Velkyn in 673 and he and those loyal to him trapped Velkyn in the deepest pit of the Spirit Realm. Livia however knew he would eventually escape and so too descended to keep him at bay for eternity. Zaikerik sealed the door behind her but was cursed by Nekrus, King of the Dead at that time, to walk the spirit realm for eternity and never be reincarnated because of his betrayal. The city of Mortholme and Zaikerik's cult were destroyed and the war ended. The Second Dragon War in 695 Cthuth demanded his part of the bargain made with Zythia when he helped her create Tyrrus, he wanted her to make some of her subjects follow him instead. Zythia however, went back on her deal and denied the Earth Dragon. Cthuth took this badly and, allying with Salvakoryn, declared war on Zythia and Tyrrus. in 701 Zythia and Cthuth fought one another above the Eastern mountains, the battle caused great destruction, creating the Divide. The White King was a great ally to Zythia and defended her land against invaders. To better invade Tyrrus, Cthuth's dragons created the Darklight Caverns under the Western Mountains, and the Eastern Passage under the Eastern Mountains. One of the deciding battles of the war was the Battle of the Whitebay in 705, where Akrazur joined Zythia to fight Salvakoryn and emerged victorious. In revenge, Salvakoryn burned down the Everwood and destroyed Everwood City. The Everwood has never fully recovered. Finally, in 707, a peace treaty was formed as the dragons became tired of the fight. To defend Tyrrus better, Akrazur created the Storm Barrier. The Great War The next civilisations to rise were the great Empire of Eredalla, the White Kingdom, and the Archmages of Tyran. Histories do not seem to record which came first but it is generally agreed they arose at similar times. The Empire of Eredalla arose in an unknown city on the coast of the region now known as Eredanos and is perhaps the most influential of the ancient empires on current Tyrrus culture, although the original city is now an sparsely populated ruin known as "The Forgotten City" and their colonies of Eredan and Varewyn have grown into large city-states. The White Kingdom was based from the massive castle of Whytehold in the White Cape and was very militarily powerful. However, neither kingdom could best the Archmages of Tyran, a cult of mages based around the foothills of Mount Tyran, a dormant volcano and a mountain which is both the largest in Tyrrus and according to legend houses the Dragonqueen Zythia. The Archmages wielded powerful light magic and studied and refined the use of mana. They created the basis of the system used by Tyrranean mages today. The Empire of Eredalla came in conflict with the White Kingdom frequently, the area now known as the White Bay was heavily contested. Also the settlement of Violetholt, one of the last fragments of Nekrus's kingdom, was fought over continually and eventually won by the White Kingdom. Though both civilisations attempted to breach the Archmage's Citadel neither succeeded. The Archmages were not particularly warlike and only fought to defend themselves. Eventually a peace was secured between the White Kingdom and Eredalla by the Archmages. Both empires decayed over time though, the White Kingdom eventually losing their grasp of Violetholt (Since renamed to Thassalus, after the general who captured it) and the capital of Eredalla being wrecked by storms, their two largest colonies becoming city-states in their own right. The city of Haven was originally founded on the foothills of Mount Tyran under the watchful protection of the Citadel and the Archmages. It was a refuge for victims of war and refugees from other tragedies. Under the nurture of the Archmages and, if legends are to be believed, with influence from Zythia, the city became a hub of magic and enlightenment. The Rebellion of Eredanos Several centuries later zealots from Eredan believed in rebuilding their once great empire, and reclaiming lands that were "rightfully theirs". Their first target was Varewyn and its lands, Varewyn was a much smaller city and its only miltary was a small militia, the seige was so quick and absolute that there were only ten recorded casualties, most of them from an explosion caused by a faulty invention tested by a Varewyn philosopher. It is often claimed that the reason the seige was so quick was that Varewyn citizens honestly didn't care who ruled them, they were too busy doing science. the Zealots of Eredanos then moved onto Silvershire and almost took Thassalus before Eredan was suddenly struck by a naval attack from Whytehold. Eredan was held at ransom by the King of Whytehold, but the Zealots would not stop and in an incredibly tactically stupid manoeuvre attempted to invade Drakevale. After their weakened army was utterly destroyed by the forces of Haven the Zealots finally gave up and gave back all the land, the King of Whytehold was gracious enough to return Eredan and peace treaty between all the city states was agreed upon. The Falconsreach Conspiracy and The Haven Civil War This peace treaty didn't last long though as a radical and Corrupt Senator of Haven known as Evelynn Falconsreach decided that Haven and the Citadel had much more power than the other cities and simply wasn't using it. With help from dark mages she attempted to organise an undercover coup within every other city. She successfully assassinated the rulers of Thassalus and would have succeeded with the other cities too if her plan wasn't thwarted by the Dark Monks who had discovered the conspiracy and were determined to stop the use of dark magic. She was dismissed from the council of Haven and exiled from their lands. However she did not stop there and with the help of a mysterious woman known only as "Witch" she accessed the forbidden magic and psychically took over the minds of the senators of Haven. Claiming herself to be Queen of Haven she and her followers fought a heated battle with the Archmages of the Citadel, eventually winning and adding them to her armies of mind slaves. Evelynn may never have been defeated if it wasn't for the fact that overuse of the forbidden magic drover her insane and made her jump from the ramparts of the Citadel. This event scared the people of Tyrrus and made them realise the destructive and abusive power of magic in the wrong hands, this drove the Citadel to share their secrets of magic and ensure there was a suitable magical authority in every city. Culture The prevailing culture in Tyrrus is one of progression and civility, most people of Tyrrus believe that the myths of the past are best left in the past and they look towards the future, relying on real world things as opposed to the unseen and unconfirmed forces beyond their control. The people of Tyrrus have never really been beyond the mountains and shun the savages of those lands, they prefer to stay in the sheltered lands of Tyrrus. Religion Most of the people of Tyrrus don't believe in the gods, though many of them do use light or dark magic. Within the civilised provinces of Tyrrus those who are religious follow the traditional Tyrranean pantheon of light gods, worship of the dark gods is frowned upon and even outlawed in many places. However in the mountains, the Hinterlands and the Northlands where barbaric tribes are the only people found for miles, they worship strange and tribal gods, mostly dark. These gods are often animalistic and primitive. All across Tyrrus reverence for the Dragonqueen Zythia can be found and she is more popular of a deity than the light gods, though there are still nonbelievers. Technology Though a lot of Tyrrus is still backwards and even primitive in areas, the richest and most advanced have access to some relatively advanced technology. The use of gunpowder for example has been perfected for weapons but these inventions are only affordable by the highest classes of society, though it is not unheard of for those lower in society to somehow gain access to gunpowder weapons. For the majority though Crossbows are the most powerful weapons widely available. The inventors in Varewyn have also created things such as timepieces run by clockwork. Hierarchy Each city has a different system of authority, some have kings or queens, others have senates or councils. However thanks to the Citadel every city-state has an Archmage who is the lead magical authority of that city and a member of the Council of Archmages, who rule all use of magic within Tyrrus. The supreme leader of Tyrrus is supposedly Queen Victoriana Dragoncrest, but she does very little anymore and leaves the running of Eredan, and thus Tyrrus politics, to the Merchant Council. Groups, Sects and Organisations Official Political Organisations * The Merchant Council of Eredan * The Archmages of the Citadel * The Senate of Haven * The Council of Varewyn * The Commanders of Whytehold * The Elders of Whytehold * The Council of Archmages Merchant Organisations * The House of Gold * The House of Wine * The House of Fish * The House of Music * The Decker Corporation Religious Groups * The Devotees of Zythia * The Dark Monks * The Druids of Everwood * The Church of the Pantheon Militia/Mercenary Groups * The Order of the Radiant Sword * The Silver Tempest * The Whytehold Guardians * The Order of the Burning Blade Undercover Groups * The Five High Chancellors * Cult of the Fallen Blackspire * The Cabal Locations Tyrrus is split into several regions, there are several locations of note within each region: Eredanos * Eredan * Castle Eredan * Varewyn * The Forgotten City * The Stormcliffs * Whitebay * The Western Passage Drakevale * Haven * The Citadel * Ravensroost * Woodshack * Bridgewater Crossing * Everwood Silvershire * Thassalus * Stratsport * The Black Monastery * The Monks Lands * Whitebay The White Cape * Whytehold * The East Gate * King's Battlecry * Hillsport * Candlepoint * Whitebay The Hinterlands * Runeholt The Northlands * Mortholme * The Blackspire * Palewood